Pump plunger packing



Nov. 28, 1950 M. H. DAYE PUMP PLUNGER PACKING Filed Aug. 8, 1949 INVENTOR. Marvin/1i Da e ATTOR N EYE Patented Nov. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,531,672- some FLUNGER maxim Marvin H}. Daye, Henderson, 'ii Application August 8, 1949; Serial No. 109,169 1 Claim. (01. tbs-4i The present inventionrelates to plunger pumps, particularly such pumps as are lowered into the casing or tubing of all Oil well to pump the oil therefrom after the Well has dissipated its natural formation pressure,

The principal object of the invention is to pro.- vide such a pump having a plunger which will forma positive seal with the inside wallet the pump barrel during both strokes of the plunger.

It is fur her an object of the invention to p gQlide} such a pump wherein the plunger parts be separately and cheaply manufactured, and ass sembled with facility orr the; holler/plunger body. Ancillary to the precedingo e ives, it isapur pose of the invention to p IQQ-SUQ'II. a pump having a plunger with cpoperatin g parts sealing against the wall of thepl ung er barrel to maintain an efiective seal at all times, which further cooperate to protect one another against injury due to the presence of sander other foreign matteronthe wall of the barrel c c c c h c In addition to the objectives s'tated abovelit will be noted that the construction of the plunger" is such' that the sealing parts may beeasily removed for replacement and repair and these parts maybe assembled (in the plunger body in various ways in accordance vvith'the" invention, thus providing for dressing the plung'rl hody with the packing elements ina nunllaer of differ: ent ways depending onthe choice of the operator or the conditionsin the well bingfpumped,

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent asthe' descriptionpr'ogress'esQ In the drawings: c c

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional] view through the pump barrel showing the" pump plunger in side elevation; p r c Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1 l p H Figures 3 through 6 arerespective 'iz ontal sectional views'taken alongthe lines correspond ingly numbered in Figure 2. cc

In Figure 1, I have indicated the pump as gen: erally comprising the barrel B and the plunger P, unnecessary details of the construction of the barrel or the manner of attachment ofjth plungerP to fixed or moving parts beingomitted. The

ill

aisle connecting means. eritending from the upper end. of plunger to the surface of the well, there being provision to maintain the barrel in fixed position in the well, and in this type of assembly, the lower end of the barrel is usually pro vided with a conventional standing valve. In the movable loarrel type, there is provision for fixing thelower end of theplunger to the walls of the well or theinterior of the well pipe, and the upper end of the barrelis connected to actuating mechanism at the surface of the well to reciprocate the barrel with respect to the plunger, thereusually being a oneaway ball valve and seat in a. cage at the; top of the barrel. These constructions of pumps, as just referred to, are well ow'nin the'art. Applicant has developed a novel pump plunger construction for use in such welleknown types of pumps, but it will be evident that. this new plunger might also be used tofoperate' within and directly against the walls of a wen tubing or casing, alth'oughits associaeon a separate pump barrel inserted into the well is primarily intended.

flhe plunger E comprises a longitudinal elongated body por'tion iillha'ving a longitudinal passage i2 extending therethrough and having a smooth'exterior surface, and a plurality of pacifme elemehtsor assemblies: removahly mounted on the outside wall of said tube. At the top of the, plunger body, there is a; conventional valve cage assembly which is threaded ontothe upper end or tlildfiidy in a manner well-known in'the art, this valve cage' containing a conventional b.2111 valve which rests on a valve seat secured in the; uppenend of the hollow body portion. The

valvclisldf a' type.,which opens in response to pressure of fluid below the valve seat, butcloses in response to pressure fromlahove the valve seat.

The va lveassemhly comprises a nut i l Figure 2) whichfis threaded onto the upper endfof the body andiwhic'li provides a jdownwardly presented stop ace whichlisrcounter hored andreceives a quan against afn'ut liiiiilzew'ise threaded on the upper general construction and" manner (if operation Inthe fixed barrel tlype, the plunger is positive reciprocated with respect to thdbarrelf by suit end of thlpody, and valve cage proper iilis threaded onto'the j outer or upper end of the nut f8; Tillieufzzperend of thej nut i2 carries the valjve seat (not'shciwn), the conventional ball valve (likewise not shown) is within the valvecage proper in, the latter having cut-away portions zzflariu slits therein to provide pas s v e of iiuidfa'sfis well-known in the art. {Elie 1 .129 fi awel P is ir sr fi i ly'threaded'for connection wit rod extending if t the sea-Ce of the well to prbmde for reciprocation of the plunger in the case of a pump of the moving plunger type.

Mounted on the body below the nut 14 and in sealing relation therewith is a brass ring 24. Below this ring, there is an elongated hollow sleeve 26 which embraces the body, and which is of outside diameter slightly less than the interior diameter of the barrel B. The housing 26 is provided with a plurality of conventional annular packing grooves 28, and in each of these grooves there may be packing rings 30 of any conventional composition packing material. These packing rings may be of the well-known expanding type and are intended to engage the inside wall of the barrel to act as Wipers in protecting the packing cups hereinafter described.

The lower end of the housing 26 is reduced to form a depending sleeve 32 of diameter somewhat less than the main part of the housing, and the lower end of this sleeve is provided with a shoulder 34 and a further reduced end 36 in order to tightly clamp the lower end of a packing cup 38 against the packing ring below in the manner hereinafter described.

Positioned below the cup 38 and also removably mounted on the mandrel is a metal ring 49. The outer wall of this latter ring is also provided with an annular packing groove, and this groove may contain a split ring of packing 42, likewise of composition obtainable on the market and suitable for this purpose, all as described above with respect to the packing 30 and the grooves in which the latter is mounted. The upper and lower ends of the ring 40 are bored out in a concave manner, as at 44, whereby to receive the inner curved ends of the associated packing cups, consisting of the upper cup 38 previously referred to, and the lower cup 46. With respect to the cup 38, it will be noted that its lower inner end is clamped between the shoulder 34 and the concave portion of the ring 59, the end portion 36 of the sleeve 32 being slightly spaced from the ring 455 in order to clamp the packing cup firmly between the parts mentioned. The packing cup 38 tapers upwardly and outwardly in the form of a lip which contacts the inside wall of the barrel, there being space within the lip for the action of fiuid to expand it outwardly against the valve upon upward relative movement of the plunger in the barrel.

Mounted on the body below the packing cup #16, there is a packing housing 553 which has an outside Wall with annular grooves therein to receive a pair of spaced packing rings 52 of a character and arrangement previously referred to, and previously described with relation to the packing ring 38. This housing has a reduced sleeve which terminates in a collar 56 and the latter collar cooperates with the lower concave surface on the ring to to clamp the packing cup Mi between these parts in the manner heretofore described, it being noted that the packing cup 46 tapers downwardly and outwardly in the form of a lip to contact the inside wall of the barrel, there being space within this lip for the action of fluid to expand it outwardly upon down ward relative movement of the plunger with respect to the barrel. Continuing downwardly along the body, as viewed in Figure 1, there are packing assemblies C, D, E, F, G and H, which constitute alternate assemblies including the ring 40 and associated parts, and housing 50 and associated parts, packing cups having lips alternately directed upwardly and downwardly forming a part of and being held between these assemblies as will be clear from an examination of Figure 1. There may be any number of these alternately arranged assemblies or units, and it will be noted that a unit having a ring such as 40 is provided with a top packing cup having an upwardly directed lip and a bottom packing cup having a downwardly directed lip, whereas it may be said that the units having the housing 50 are provided with a top packing cup having a downwardly directed lip, and a bottom packing cup having an upwardly directed lip;

The lowermost packing head at H is arranged to clamp the lowermost packing cup 51 against a metal ring 58 which has a top concave metal surface 60 and an exterior sealing groove 62. The latter may be filled with expanding packing material or may be an open groove to provide a fluid packing seal. Below the ring 58, there is a brass ring 64 and a nut 66 having a recess in its upper end filled with packing 61, the nut 66 being threaded-onto the lower end of the body [0. Below the nut 66, there is a bottom nut 68 of construction similar to the nut I4 positioned near the top of the plunger.

The drawings and the above description disclose a dress for the plunger which has been found to be effective in operation. Obviously, the dress of the plunger may be varied by rearranging the packing assemblies on the body in various ways. For example, the elongated housing 26 is positioned near the top of the plunger when the plunger is used with a travelling barrel pump, as shown in the drawings, but this elongated housing might be positioned on the plunger near the lower end thereof and the pump is of the travelling plunger type.

It will be obvious from the above that the pump plunger disclosed provides for a perfect seal with the inside wall of the barrel on both strokes of the plunger. The oppositely directed packing cups, as well as the expanding packing ring will wipe the barrel free of sand and other foreign matter. The wiper rings in the annular grooves serve to protect the lips of the adjacent cup packings, it being noted that these wiper packing rings are found on both sides of the packing cups in substantially every case.

The construction described above is a distinct improvement over prior art devices wherein the packing grooves were provided in the body of the plunger, or in parts permanently fastened to the body of the plunger, in that applican s plunger is capable of convenient break-down and re-assembly for repair or replacement of individual packing parts. The packing cups provide the pumping seal and because they extend in opposite directions, they form a positive seal at all times. The packing rings 30 are of proper dimension to engage the wall of the barrel to act as wipers, preventing sand and other abrasives from getting into the cups and causing wear on the latter. It is recognized that almost any packing composition is caused to swell when it is immersed in the fluid being pumped, such as in oil or water. The packing rings 30 should be arranged so that such swelling will not interfere with the proper functioning of the plunger, although when the packing rings expand, they may also act as auxiliary seals to aid in pumping the fluid. As is known in the art, various types of conventional packing may be selected allowing for expansion or swelling as determined by the type of fluid in which the plunger is to be operated. It has been found that most effective results have been obtained in the use of plungers 5 of the type described above due to the combination wiping, sealing and pumping effect of the packing rings, wipers and cups.

It will further be apparent that the various parts disclosed are capable of quick manufacture and assembly and convenient removal for repair or replacement.

I claim:

A pump plunger adapted for relative upward and downward movement within a barrel comprising an elongated tubular supporting body having a smooth exterior wall, a packing assembly removably mounted on said body comprising a. rigid cylindrical ring and an adjacent rigid tubular housing, said ring having an annular packing groove on its outer wall, said housing havin an enlarged central portion and oppositely directed top and bottom reduced sleeve portions one of which extends toward said ring, the outer wall of said central portion having an annular packing groove therein, said ring having top and bottom concave ends one of which is presented toward said one of said sleeve portions of said housing, an inside packing cup positioned between said ring and said housing and having a base and an outwardly flaring lip, the base of said inside cup being retained in said one of said concave ends of said ring by said one of said sleeve portions, a pair of outside packing cups each of which has a base and an outwardly flaring lip, one of said outside cups having its base secured in the other of said concave ends of said ring and the other of said outside cups having its base secured on the end of the other of said sleeves, said outside cups being mounted with their lips extending in the same direction opposite to that of the lip of said inside cup, and means on said body acting longitudinally thereof for clamping said ring, housing and packing cups against one another on said body.

MARVIN I-I. DAYE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 903,886 Reynolds Nov. 1'7, 1908 1,841,803 Gray Aug. 20, 1929 2,089,556 Jackson Aug. 10, 1937 2,097,629 Lowrey Nov. 2, 1937 2,315,012 Park Mar. 30, 1943 2,377,039 Reilly May 29, 1945 

